Greater Niagara Fishing Forecast

by Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario and tributaries – Its fishing derby time in Niagara USA and right now it’s the Orleans County Rotary Derby underway through August 18. The current Grand Prize leader is a 34 pound, 13 ounce salmon caught by Foster Miller of Holley. In the Salmon Division, Julie Schaeffer of Pennsylvania is leading the way with a 31 pound, 11 ounce fish. Top Rainbow is a 13 pound, 10 ounce Olcott trout reeled in by Dean Kapolka of Pennsylvania. Big brown is a 15 pound, 8 ounce fish caught by Georgia Barkdorl of Pennsylvania. No Lake Trout have been entered as of this report, and there’s plenty of room for improvement in all of the other categories, too. If you are a derby fishing nut, next weekend is the time to be on the water. You can be fishing in three derbies at the same time! The LOC Fall Derby starts on August 16th and the Grand Prize is $25,000 for the biggest salmon overall in the 18-day contest. On August 17, the 37 Annual Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey Derby will run for 9 days in Erie, Niagara and Orleans counties, offering a Grand Prize of $2,500 and six species categories to choose from – smallmouth bass, walleye, carp, salmon, lake trout and brown/rainbow trout. The best thing about the Odyssey is that kids are free in a special Junior Division. Register online at www.fishodyssey.net. One important tip comes from Joe LoTempio and his sons Gino and Joe, as well as Joe’s dad Angelo, who insist to make sure to get into any derby going on because you just never know. A recent trip on Lake O. with Cinelli Sportfishing produced a 30 pound salmon that would have made the Orleans County board, but they failed to register for the contest. The funny thing was the fact that they read about Mark Buttone of Ohio in last week’s report missing out on the Grand Prize. Fishing has been very good on Lake Ontario. Just ask some first-timers on the lake like Kyle Costello of Lockport; 14 year old Bradley Poeller of Lockport; 11 and 9 year old Mark and Chris Finney of Jacksonville, Florida and their dad, Keith Brong. Fishing with Capt. Bob Cinelli of Olcott, the five fishermen managed to all catch their first salmon ever, with many over 20 pounds. The biggest for the day was a 27 pound king hauled in by Costello. All of the fish were caught on flasher-fly in 200-300 feet of water in front of Olcott targeting the depths from 60 to 90 feet with downriggers, divers and copper lines. Tip of the week comes from Sir Glenn Bird of Barkershire, a member of the round table at The Slippery Sinker. When derby fishing, make sure that your fish are secure in whatever container or bag you are using to transport the fish from your boat – you just might lose one of your fish and it could be the biggest in the bag … and a derby fish to boot!

Lower Niagara River – Action in the lower river has slowed a bit and shore fishermen are waiting for the first salmon to arrive, usually at the New York Power Authority’s fishing platform around the third week of the month. Shoreline casting for bass is decent in the gorge area. Boat fishermen are also enjoying success on bass using live bait like crayfish or shiners, but tube jigs have also been working well according to Capt. Steve Drabczyk of Lewiston. A recent trip with Jerry and Donna Dilsaver of Lewiston produced a nice mix of smallmouth using Venom four-inch tubes in watermelon-white and laced with Kishell’s fish scent. Other colors that also worked for them were smoke-white and green goby. The best drifts were along the Coast Guard station and around the green buoy in 25 feet of water on the Niagara Bar. While you can do well without scent if you are using the tube color, the scent seemed to tip action in their favor when they were still experimenting. Some walleye were being caught on the Stella drift on worm harnesses fished off three-way rigs. Tip of the week from Drabczyk is that when you do have a trip on the water, make sure you have gas in your gas tank. The NRAA Walleye Contest is set for Aug. 25.

Upper Niagara River – Bass fishing continues to be consistent around the river, especially around Strawberry and Motor islands, the west river near Beaver Island and at the head of the river on three-way rigs using crayfish or crawlers on a floating jig head. Shore fishermen did well at Broderick Park and at the foot of Ontario Street for perch and rock bass this past week. For musky, try using a large tube outside the weeds around Strawberry Island.

Chautauqua County Fishing Report

Lake Erie – The time has begun to begin fishing deeper than 60 feet of Lake Erie, west of Sturgeon Point, as there has been an uptick in walleye catches both east and west of Cattaraugus Creek. Out of Barcelona, trollers are targeting suspended walleye at depths over 70 feet. Running stickbaits or worm harnesses between 60-70 feet down is a good bet. West end trollers also see the occasional steelhead mixed in with walleye catches.

Anglers should not overlook the shallower reef areas when searching for walleye. Some walleye anglers do quite well around reefs by casting and retrieving weight forward spinners tipped with nightcrawlers or by bottom bouncing with worm harnesses along the deeper edges. Most of the reef walleye caught are from the 2010 year class (16″-18″), with the occasional larger fish mixed in.

Chautauqua Lake – Shallow water trolling of “eyes” has been cooling off as the temperatures drop, but deep water trolling has picked up.

Bass anglers are finding largemouth bass still hanging out around the docks in Arnold and Bemus Point Bays. Plastic baits like 3” tubes and jig and pig in the deeper weed packets are working.

Yellow and white perch have been in good supply so far this season. Best offerings have been small minnows or night crawlers in the shallows in front of the Village of Mayville launch and Bemus Point area.

Wayne County Fishing Report

by Christopher Kenyon

Lake Ontario – The kings have arrived! After a slow week the charter boats are now marking salmon in 120 to 220 feet of water. Last week the electronic screens were empty.

The kings are hitting flasher flies, spoons and cut boat. The salmon are in the 25 to 30 pound class. Browns have been in 80 to 100 feet of water and steelhead are running in 40 feet of water over 200 feet.

The fish are hitting off the riggers, however copper running 300 feet back is also attracting the larger kings.

Check out the Lake Ontario United web page for up to date reports. www.lakeontariounited.com.

Bays- Pike and largemouth bass fishing have been fantastic in Sodus Bay waters. The bass are hitting rubber and spinner baits fished near the weedlines.

The bass have been in the 4 to 5 pound range. Blind Sodus Bay, which is located on the eastern border of Wayne County, has some monster bass. Fish the eastern shoreline.

Port Bay, another 500 acre bay bordering Lake Ontario, has largemouth bass along the entire shoreline. Panfish are also everywhere.

The bait shops in Wayne County have very consistent hours. If you need egg sacs, flies, jigs or spikes you’ll find everything you need. Check out the Wayne County Tourism web page for their locations. For more, visit www.waynecountytourism.com.

We have a brand new Wayne County Fishing Brochure. This publication features where to go, what to use, and what to catch. Call our office for a free fishing packet, including the new brochure. 1-800-527-6510.

Erie Canal – The bass tournaments held during the week have produced some lunker bass near the Widewater section of the canal. Anglers are using Zoom baits and are targeting the south shore of the waterway.

Catfish have always been an exciting fishery in the canal. Fish the pools or just cast out into the current. Dough balls or cut bait work for the cats.

Fairhaven/Cayuga County Fishing Report

FISH ON! It’s being heard aboard many boats in the Fair Haven area on Lake
Ontario this week. Last weekend’s wind kept all tied to the docks but more
fish have moved in with that west wind as well. The next three to four weeks
should bring the peak of salmon fishing in our area. Don’t miss out. Last
reports had the thermocline down deep so look for kings on or near bottom in
the 130- 160′ of water range or suspended out in the deeper waters. Flasher
flies, cutbait are the top producers, but don’t be afraid to run spoons or
plugs.